Introducing Farrah Morgan: The Grad Coach
Farrah Morgan, better known as The Grad Coach, is dedicated to helping ambitious graduates launch into well-paid, meaningful careers. With the tagline, “Helping ambitious grads launch the inspiring careers they deserve,” Farrah supports young professionals through both the practicalities and psychological challenges of breaking into the job market. Since starting as The Grad Coach in June 2022, Farrah has worked with over 120 graduates and final-year students through personalised coaching, workshops, and a growing online community, equipping them with the tools to excel in today’s competitive landscape.
Farrah’s own career journey shaped her unique approach to graduate coaching. With a background that includes both a theatre and performance degree, and experience as a hiring manager, she quickly gained insight into what makes a candidate stand out in the hiring process. “I went from being a graduate myself to actually being the hiring manager, conducting interviews and reviewing CVs,” Farrah shares. This dual experience taught her what graduates need to get noticed and succeed.
The Evolution of The Grad Coach
When Farrah set out to build her coaching practice, she knew she wanted to make a difference for graduates navigating the complexities of today’s job market. Recognising that many university career services struggle to provide comprehensive support, Farrah created The Grad Coach to cover areas she felt were often overlooked. “There’s still a belief that only first-class degrees from top universities open doors,” she explains. But her mission is to dispel such myths and empower graduates to see the true value they bring to employers, regardless of their academic background.
Farrah’s approach blends her expertise as a coach with her experience in recruitment, offering guidance on CV-building, interview techniques, and cultivating self-confidence. “It’s not the best candidate who gets hired—it’s the best communicator,” she notes, emphasising the importance of communicating effectively. Farrah’s coaching often centres around helping clients identify and own their strengths, even when they might not initially recognise them.
Blending Coaching and Mentoring for Graduates
As a coach, Farrah’s work is a unique blend of traditional coaching and mentoring. While classic coaching encourages clients to find their own answers, Farrah provides a balance, offering guidance when needed. “My style combines coaching and mentoring, but always within a coaching framework,” she says. “I encourage clients to draw on what they already know before I provide any expertise.”
This approach is especially powerful for graduates, many of whom underestimate their own abilities. Farrah helps her clients uncover strengths they didn’t realise they possessed, building their confidence as they navigate their early careers. “Graduates often don’t realise how much they’ve achieved, so I act as a mirror, helping them to see their capabilities in a new light,” she explains.
Challenges Facing Graduates Today
Farrah is well aware of the obstacles graduates face when entering the job market. She frequently encounters clients who believe that a lack of experience or prestigious qualifications will hold them back. “There’s this persistent narrative that you need a first-class degree from a top university to succeed,” Farrah says, but she’s quick to dispel this. For her, graduate success is about skills, adaptability, and the ability to communicate value to potential employers.
One of the core issues Farrah addresses is how to overcome limiting beliefs that many graduates hold. She uses a strengths-based approach, encouraging clients to reflect on their past experiences—whether part-time jobs or extracurricular roles—to highlight valuable skills they may not initially see. “I’ve seen graduates transform when they realise they have more to offer than they thought,” Farrah adds, noting that a change in perspective can unlock new opportunities.
From CV Building to Career Confidence
Farrah’s work isn’t just about mindset—it’s also highly practical. She helps her clients build CVs and cover letters that stand out, using clear, results-driven language that demonstrates their value to employers. “You can’t coach over a knowledge gap,” Farrah says. Her sessions often include in-depth CV reviews, where she helps clients craft impactful bullet points that highlight quantifiable achievements.
Farrah advocates for including measurable results in CVs, believing that every role—whether in finance, marketing, or retail—has quantifiable outcomes that can be articulated. “Graduates often undersell themselves, worrying about seeming arrogant. But the reality is, they’re often underselling their abilities,” she says. Through her coaching, Farrah helps clients frame their experiences in ways that demonstrate confidence without exaggeration.
The Reality of Building a Business as a Coach
Building a coaching business has not been without its challenges, and Farrah is candid about the realities of self-employment. “When I started, I didn’t have a niche, and I was trying to be everything to everyone,” she shares. It was through trial and error—and investing in a marketing program—that she found the clarity she needed to establish The Grad Coach. By focusing on graduates, Farrah honed her expertise and built a client base that resonated with her experience.
Farrah’s business has grown rapidly, and today she provides a mix of one-to-one coaching, digital products, and a subscription-based community for job seekers. “For me, scaling has meant diversifying my revenue streams,” she explains, reflecting on the expansion of her services to include CV templates, masterclasses, and a job search community. This diversity allows Farrah to reach a wider audience while maintaining her core focus on empowering graduates.
Insights from Animas Training
Farrah’s journey as a coach was also shaped by her training with Animas. “I loved the variety of modules, particularly transactional analysis,” she recalls. Farrah frequently draws on this knowledge, especially when helping clients understand the relationship dynamics within their teams. “The community at Animas was incredibly supportive,” she adds, describing how her cohort became an ongoing source of inspiration and learning.
To prospective Animas coaches, Farrah recommends actively participating in practice sessions and volunteering for coaching demonstrations. “Being coached by others helped me better understand the process, both as a client and as a coach,” she explains, acknowledging how this experience solidified her approach to coaching graduates with a high degree of empathy and insight.
Future Focus and Closing Thoughts
Looking ahead, Farrah is focused on expanding The Grad Coach and making her services accessible to even more graduates. Through initiatives like free masterclasses, a subscription-based job search community, and tiered coaching packages, she aims to support clients at every stage of their journey, regardless of their financial circumstances. “I want there to be something for everyone, at every price point,” she says, balancing affordability with high-impact services.
For anyone interested in learning more or exploring coaching with Farrah, she can be reached via LinkedIn or through her website, thegradcoach.co.uk.
